If I were queen for a day...

Hallo meine Lieben,

how is your day going? I am pretty excited because I  will go to see Muse tonight in Cleveland. Woohoo. I have never been to a concert of that band but I like the music for years. It's time! Can't wait!
I am sure it will be lots of fun to wait in line in the freezing cold. 28 degrees and snow. Here I come. 

Well, time for another awesome Random Thursday topic with these girls.

Oh well, I only have one day? I guess it will be a busy day because there are so many things I would like to change, stop, do.....let's start.

source I would stop factory farming. End experimenting on animals. I would transform all kill-shelters into no-kill-shelters. I would offer my palace to all the animals in need. Harsher penalties for animal abuse. I would close all the fur farms and search for a new home for all the poor foxes, bunnies, minks and so on. 

source I would fire some politicians. Well, a lot of them. Most of them. In general I would try to make the world a better place. 

source I would legalize same-sex marriage. Everywhere. Because I can't believe that you an marry your cousin in most of the states but not the partner you love. 

source Well, I would definitely make it illegal to use onions in any kind of meal because eating onions is a torture.
If you were queen or king for a day, what would you do?

Ten On Tuesday. Cuteness overload, drowning and a vegan find.

Hallo meine Lieben.

it's time for another Ten On Tuesday! Hope you are all enjoying your day! It is so rainy and grey and ugly here. Very depressing.

1. Joaquin Phoenix' reaction when they read his name as an Oscar nominee was pretty entertaining. Snacking and shaking your head at the same time? Not bad. I guess he was pissed because they did not allow to show his new animal rights campaign during the show. It was "too political". Plus he hates awards. I was surprised to even see him there. 

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2. He is one of my most favorite actors. I guess they will never stop nominating him because he is so freaking talented but I doubt that he will ever win. The Academy...

3. Anne Hathaway's Oscar dress looked like an apron. 

4. It hurts a lot when you roll over your toes with a vacuum cleaner. American vacuum cleaner are much heavier than German ones. 

5. I got totally excited in the grocery store yesterday because I unexpectedly found some vegan "chik'n" patties. They are vegan and without onions. That is all I am asking for. Can't wait to try them. 

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6. I am so happy that my fellow German (well okay, Austrian too) Christoph Waltz won the Oscar! I will never forget the first time I saw him on TV. I was ten and he played a creepy murder who collected dolls.  I was so scared of him. 

7. What is wrong with Illinois? They introduced a bill aimed at punishing those who report animal cruelty. What is wrong with people? You can read about it here. 

8. I am currently addicted to Green Tea with dragonfruit, acai and melon. 

9. I finally started to read the last book (so far) of the Carl Morck series by Jussi Adler Olsen and I am trying to read as slow as I can because I don't want it to be over.

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10. I need my daily dose of cuteness overload. 

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Have a lovely Tuesday!

Let's talk about awards.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday! Will you watch the Oscars tonight? I definitely will. I love to watch them. I am a huge movie fan plus I really enjoy seeing the beautiful and horrible dresses at the red carpet. 

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I know I have just told you that I am a huge movie fan. But I consider myself a huge fail this year because I haven't seen any of the movies that are nominated for best picture. I feel really bad about this because I usually try to watch most of the movies that are nominated but I just did not find the time recently. There are some I am really  interested in. Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained for example. But I guess I have to watch them when the awards are over. At least I read "Life of Pi".

David and I have watched "The Impossible" last night. I am a huge fan of Ewan McGregor and I think he did a great job. Naomi Watts also. Plus there is a German actor in the movie. Yeah for that.  The movie scared me a lot because of all the water. I really don't know if I could survive in such a situation. I would probably die of a panic attack before the water would hit me. 

I really wish that Joaquin Phoenix will win the award for Best Actor but I kind of doubt it. But he rocks and he is definitely my favorite of all the nominees. I am also keeping my fingers crossed for Christoph Waltz because he is fellow German speaker and also a fabulous actor.

I am glad I am in America and don't have to stay up the whole night to watch the Oscars. 

So, I hope you guys will all enjoy your Sunday night, no matter if you are interested in the Oscars or not.

I am very proud and honored to tell you that I received an award too!

My dear friend Chrissy from Whimsical Poppysmic who is a fellow German nominated me for the Liebster Award! It means a lot to me that I received the award from her because she is such an awesome person and my blog hero too! Thank you so much, Chrissy!

Chrissy asked all the people she nominated to answer her 11 questions. I love answering questions and it is an honor to do that with hers. So here we go.

Chrissy's eleven questions.

1. When did you start blogging and why?

Almost a year ago! In April 2012! How exciting! I remember that I started to read some blogs a couple of months before I started my own blog and I loved to read all the lovely posts and leave my comments. And I wanted to be a part of the community, share my thoughts with others, tell people about my life in America. 

2. How do you start your day, what are your morning rituals and when do you have to get up?

I get up at 7 am every morning and the first thing I do every morning is to make a coffee or a tea. I am not really a morning person, not very talkative so I need something to wake me up. 

3. What's your favorite quote from a book? Name the book.

Well, that's easy. "Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends." by George Bernard Shaw.

4. Where do you live and would you rather live somewhere else, no matter where?

I am a German but I live in Ohio, United States. I live there in a smaller city with my husband David. This is not the place we want to live forever. We would love to live in Denver, Colorado or in Ireland. :) I hope we can move to one of this places as soon as possible.

5. Introvert or extrovert?

I would say I am more of an ambivert but tend to be more introvert than extrovert. I don't like to be in the middle of a huge crowd, I love to spend some time alone but I can also be very enthusiastic. 

6. What is one of your greatest fears in life?

Lots of water. I am really scared of water and drowning. I am also scared of losing my loved ones. 

7. Do you set yourself goals? Name one of your most important goals for 2013? 

Sure, I set goals for myself. The most important one is to find the perfect place to live. 

8. Who's the most annoying celebrity in your opinion?

Uh, there are so many. The Kardashians are really annoying because they are so dumb. And Jennifer Love Hewitt. I just can't stand her. And I hate the way Heidi Klum talks. Oh, and Tom Cruise. 

9. What's your favorite junk food?

Probably fries. Do they count as junk food? I love anything made of potatoes. Also chips. I can eat lots of chips. 

10. What do you like about yourself the most?

Hmm, I like about myself that I am a very caring person. :)

11. Name 3 of your favorite blogs for me to visit!

Oh, I have so many favorite blogs. You already know Miki's blog and I think we read a lot of the same blogs. I also love Alex' blog ifs ands & butts, Celeste's blog The Punching Teacup and Sara's blog Sara In Le Petit Village. And many more. I love all the blogs I read on a regular basis and you should visit all of them. Unfortunately, I can't link up to all of them here. But that reminds me that I have to make a list of all the blogs I read. 

Chrissy, thank you again for nominating me! You are such a sweetheart and I love reading your blog! Please feel free to answer Chrissy's questions. I would love to read your answers!
Have a lovely  Sunday!

Ridiculous fears.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all having a wonderful time and you are all able to stay warm. It is so freezing cold over here, I can't even describe it. We went to a concert in Cleveland last night and I almost froze to death on my way from the car to the venue. Which was only a 2 minute walk but enough time to die. 

I am linking up with these ladies for some more Random Thursday.




The topic is...

Well, this is totally my topic because I have a pretty bad ridiculous fear. I am scared of water.  Not so much the water that comes out of the shower...I am even fine with the  water in my bath tub. But any amount of water bigger than that freaks me out. Really. I mean it. 

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Even a pool is too much for me when it is deep enough. I need to be able to stand on the ground and have my head over the water. Then I am fine. Anything else...pure horror.  As you can imagine, beach vacations are probably not much fun with me. I never go swimming. Never. Not because I can't swim. I am just too scared.  I don't have any bad experiences with water. Probably because I never go swimming. It is just a ridiculous fear.

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Not that I really have a fear of clowns but I can't understand how parents can invite clowns to their kids' birthdays. They are totally creepy and I don't want to meet a clown at night. Maybe I watched "It" too often when I was a child...maybe.
These are my ridiculous fears. What are yours?

Ten things I have learned in Vegas.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I am linking up with Lin from Linny's Vault and I thought it would be nice to do a Ten On Tuesday post about Vegas, baby! I still haven't told you guys much about it and I feel really bad. I am sorry, I just did not find the time to sort through all the pictures and write a proper post yet. But it will follow, I promise. 

Number 1.

It would be nice to live in a Penthouse every time I go on a vacation. I could get used to it. The bathroom of that Penthouse was bigger than my whole first apartment. Well maybe that is an exaggeration but it was still huge. There even was a phone next to the toilet. And a TV in the bathroom so I was able to watch the news while I took a shower. 

Number 2.

A green couch can look really nice.

Number 3.

Nobody cares when you drive way too fast on the Extraterrestrial Highway. Not even when you drive 125 mph. Because nobody else is out there. 

Number 4. 

Rachel, Nevada is a little town with only 98 inhabitants but it is a tourist attraction because it is close to Area 51 and there is fabulous place called Al'e'Inn where you can eat an Alien Burger. The waitress won't let you finish your meal when you are unlucky. Be prepared to defend your food. 

Number 5.

You don't have to be polite to the 246 people who want to give you some information brochures about hookers. Just ignore them.

Number 6.

You can ride on a Gondala in some clean blue water which you will never see when you are in Venice. Or you can just watch the people who actually spend lots of money on that and make fun of the singing skills of the Gondoliere.

Number 7.

The waitresses in the "Paris" hotel wear dresses that are definitely not Parisian. 

Number 8. 

You can go and buy artificial grass at the Zombie Apocalypse Store. I just don't know how that helps you to survive  a zombie apocalypse. I should have asked. 

Number 9. 

People get mad at you when you knock on their door like crazy because you think it is your own door and your husband doesn't want to let you back in. Sorry to the people who lived on floor 20. My fault. 

Number 10.

If you wait for the volcano in front of your hotel to erupt, you should check first if they are doing some maintenance work on it. Don't be disappointed if they do. 

More Vegas will follow! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Sunday Confessions. Runway reversal, cake pops and books that I don't want to start reading.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Mine is pretty uneventful so far but very relaxing. Except of all the stupid house cleaning and so on. 
I am linking up with lovely Alyx from Every Day Is A New Adventure for some Sunday Confessions. 



Confession #1.
I still haven't sorted the pictures from the trip to Vegas. They are not even on my computer yet. It is a shame. I have so much to tell you guys about the trip but I just need some time to sort through all the hundreds of pictures. 
Confession #2.
I really feel like something is wrong with me. It was freezing cold in Vegas, at least in my opinion. I wore boots, a warm coat and a scarf. One evening on my way to the Sephora store I saw a girl wearing a short dress and no shoes. I don't know if she was so drunk that she did not feel the cold or if I am just a pussy when it comes to cold weather. I have no idea...But my feet need to be warm. Plus I think that walking barefoot in a city is pretty gross.
Confession #3.
I really feel the need to make some fancy cake pops. I just need a cake pop maker. I have no idea why I am so obsessed with cake pops right now but I love to idea of making delicious bites of cake on a stick. I have no problem with eating  a normal sized piece of cake but these cake balls look so cute. 

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Confession #4.
I finished the third book of the Carl Morck series by Jussi Adler Olsen and now I am too scared to start the fourth book because it is the last book of the series so far. I don't know when the fifth book will get published. I don't want to be without these books.
Confession #5.
This video might be shocking for some people but I just think it absolutely nails it. 

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Have a great Sunday!

Last five frivolous purchases.

Hallo meine Lieben,

I am back from Vegas! We had such an awesome time and I have so much to tell you and so many pictures to show you. I am still a little confused to be back in reality without all the neon lights and the people who want to sell you some strippers so I guess for today I'll just stick to Random Thursday, try to wind down a bit and sort all the pictures and stories and tell you about the trip in the next days. 

I am linking up with these lovely ladies.






And this is the topic. 

1. A trip to Vegas.
Well I guess that was the biggest purchase we did this year. We spent a whole week in Vegas which was so much fun. When we checked in at 1 am they told us that they were overbooked and that they would have to give us the Penthouse suite. It was nice to spend some time in a suite which bathroom was bigger than my first apartment. 
2. Tickets to Vegas shows.
It was our first time in Vegas so we decided to go and see some of the shows. We saw Criss Angel, Mystere and Penn & Teller.  Penn & Teller are definitely my favorites. Their show is so smart and funny. Best thing was that we had the chance to take some pictures with them and talk to them after the show. Yeah, Teller talked too. He even called me "dear".  Penn called everybody "boss" which was a little weird but also kind of cute.  Please excuse my stupid face expression. 

3. A dress I did not wear in Vegas because it was too cold. 
I found a really cute black studded dress which was 75% off. I thought it would be perfect to wear it in Vegas. But what can I say. It was way too cold for me to wear a dress. I ended up wearing my winter coat, boots and a scarf. 
4. A lip balm.
I have never been to a Sephora store before. There is no such store in my area and the chain does not have stores in Germany at all. So I was pretty excited when I saw the store at the Forum Shops at Caesar Palace (definitely worth seeing).  I ended up buying a vegan lip balm. Which smells like roses. That's it. 

Sephora
5. Two books.
I am currently reading the Carl Morck series by Jussi Adler Olsen. After I finished the second book I went to the bookstore to get the third book of the series. When I saw the fourth and last (so far) standing right next to the third book I just could not resist. I had to buy both of them. They are just too good. 
Please tell me about your last purchases! And have a wonderful day!  

Ten On Tuesday. Animal friendship, lip balm and perfect matches.

Hallo meine Lieben,

it is Tuesday again which means it is time for some more Ten On Tuesday.





It also means that I will be back from Vegas tomorrow.
1. I can't wait to tell you guys about our trip to Vegas.  It feels weird to write this because right now it is Tuesday and I haven't even left  for my trip. I am writing this in advance. But when I publish this the vacation will be almost over. Weird.
2. David and I started to watch a pretty cool new show called "Legit". Jim Jefferies plays a version of himself and tries to make his life more legit. It is hilarious. Have you watched it?

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3.  I totally feel like watching Friends again. I don't know how many times I have watched that show already but it just never gets boring. Unless you watch the German version. The voices sound weird and they did not do a great job when they translated the jokes into German.
4. I like falling asleep in front of the TV.
5. I totally want to get an iPad. I have used David's iPad and it is just awesome. Maybe this would be the perfect birthday gift for myself. 
6. I am in love with my Crazy Rumors lip balm. It is called "Peppermint twist" and it is from the "Candy Cane" edition. I guess it makes a lot of sense that I had to buy a candy cane lip balm. I mean...landofcandycanes. Perfect.  Well these lip balms are awesome and I am totally planning on buying more of them.  They are all natural and vegan which I absolutely love. They are also perfect for my dry lips. Nobody pays me to say this by the way. 

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7. I am pretty good at destroying electronic devices, David is good at fixing them. I guess that means we are a perfect match.
8. When I have the chance to add more pets to our household I want to adopt a blind cat and a three legged dog. 
9. I admire the work they do at Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary. My lovely friend Miki who is also a crazy cat lady talked about this topic before. You should go and check out her post.
10. I love unusual animal friendships. Well, I love all kind of friendship. But this melts my heart.

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Have a happy Tuesday and see you soon!

Sunday Confessions. Tailbones, yoga and cute bats.

Hallo meine Lieben,

time to make some confessions.  Thank you so much for hosting, Alyx!



Confession #1.
I am writing this on a Tuesday. But you won't be able to read this before Sunday which is totally confusing for me because when you read this I will already be in Las Vegas. But right now I am still sitting here in snowy Ohio and writing a blog post for next Sunday.  It is totally weird to schedule a blog post. I usually don't do that just because I never find the time to write posts in advance.
Confession #2.
I would like to play Ice Hockey. I don't know why because I am not very talented on ice skates and I would probably break all the bones in my body but I am sure I would enjoy it.  The last time I went ice skating I ended up with a very painful haematoma on my tailbone. 
Confession #3.
I really dislike folding the laundry and ironing. Every other housework is okay. 
Confession #4. 
I would like to start exercising again but I have a totally great excuse not to go out running: it is way too cold. I am not sure what my excuse will be when it starts getting warmer. But I guess I should at least start doing yoga again.
Confession #5.
I am in love.

cuteoverload

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Embarrassing celeb crushes.

Hallo meine Lieben,

well this week's Random Thursday topic is a though one. But also a very interesting one. Maybe you already know that I am in Vegas at the moment but I can't wait to read your posts, girls! I want to know all about your embarrassing celeb crushes.

I am linking up with these lovely girls.

Let's start with an embarrassing crush I had when I was twelve. I loved to watch a show called "Eine starke Family" which my American friends know as "Step by step".  Well, my favorite member of that show was Cody Lambert who appeared to be pretty dumb and lived in his van but he was also very kind and caring...chaotic and eccentric which I really liked when I was twelve. I guess he was the main reason to even watch this show. 

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I had another embarrassing crush when I was maybe 13. At some point I started to watch "Buffy the vampire slayer" which I totally loved. My hero was a guy called "Oz" who appeared to be a werewolf. This might sound weird but I totally liked a werewolf. Not Angel who everybody else liked. No, the tiny little werewolf guy. He was pretty cool and brave. Plus he is a werewolf. How awesome is that? And now I want to watch Buffy again...

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Do you have any embarrassing celebrity crushes? Please tell me about it! Have a wonderful time and see you soon!

Ten On Tuesday. Weird German names, Vegas and vegan shrimps.

Hallo meine Lieben,

how is your week going? Hope you are all having a great time.
For me it is time for another Ten On Tuesday. And to pack my suitcase which I really hate. 




1. I can't tell you how excited I am. Tomorrow we will go to Vegas, baby! Yay! I know it will be awesome. Plus Lin will be there too. Woohoo.

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2. I am pretty sure that I won't win any money when I gamble. That would just not be me. I lose money, not win. 
3. David fixed the screen of my laptop. He is so awesome. I was scared that I would have to buy a new laptop. But gladly David knows how to replace the screen of a laptop. He is my hero. I always wanted to have a MacBook but it is nice that I don't have to spend that much money right now. 
4. My knitting is doing some progress. I still have to learn a lot but it is so much fun that I don't even care that my scarf looks like a mess. I am just proud of myself. I will show you the end product once I am finished. 
5. I recently watched a pretty cool and interesting documentary with Ewan McGregor. It is called "Cold Chain Mission" and I definitely recommend watching it. Ewan McGregor is on a mission to the ends of the earth to immunise some of the hardest-to-reach children in the world. In the first part they travel to India and Nepal and in the second part to Kongo. After watching "Long Way Down" I just can't get enough of his travel documentaries. 

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6. Hermione is called "Hermine" in the German Harry Potter version.  And Crookshanks is Krummbein.  It's weird. 
7. I called my first car Hermine. It was clearly a girl. I loved her. Cars definitely need names. Does your car have a name?
8. I cut myself in the thumb when I tried to peel a mango. I need to work on my technique.
9. I finally tried those vegan shrimps I bought and I have to say that they are  fine but I am not overly excited. I roasted them in a pan with chili and garlic and ate them with spaghetti. I guess I would have been more excited if they would be called different. I just expected something else. They taste fine but not so much like shrimps (Not that I really remember how they taste...).
10. I won't be able to catch up on your blogs for a week but I hope you won't forget about me. I am preparing some posts and I can't wait to catch up with you guys again!
Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Sunday confessions. iPad, football and mango jalapeno salsa.

Hallo meine Lieben,

How are you doing? I hope you're all having a wonderful and relaxed Sunday.
I'm linking up with lovely Alyx for some confessions like I do every Sunday.



Confession #1.
This is the first time I'm writing a post on an iPad and I'm excited and confused at the same time.
Confession #2.
I'm not writing this on an iPad because I am the proud owner of one of the fancy little things. It belongs to David and I am just using it because the screen of my laptop is broken so I can't use it anymore. David has to fix it. Then I'll be able to finally visit all your blogs. Doing that on the iPad is way too confusing for me. But still, I would like to have an iPad too.
Confession #3.
I'm really cursed. I destroy all electronic devices. I'm surprised David lets me use his iPad. I'm sure he's scared.
Confession #4.
I still don't understand the rules of football but I'm very excited to watch he Super Bowl later. I hope the 49ers will win because I've learned that you have to hate the Ravens when your husband is a Browns fan.
Confession #5.
We bought a crazy amount of chips. But I guess you have to eat lots of chips on Super Bowl Sunday. I also found some kick ass mango jalapeño salsa and I can't wait to try it.
Enjoy your Sunday! Will you watch the Super Bowl?